Alberta MTBMX Championship
The first ever Alberta MTBMX freestyle championship were held at the beginning of April at the Round up Center in Calgary. We had high aspirations for the course and only a day and a half to build. The best thing to do in these situations is call every friend you can and offer them beer, pizza and a whole lot of karma banking. Our friends sure came through for us this weekend. And I'd like to thank every one of "those guys" who were able to come out and help us create something special for this year's event. We were able to pull off building the line in 30hrs and made a sweet track for the kids to throw down on. And throw down they did!
The show was a huge success. What we were witness to here in Calgary was something special. BMX and Mountain bikes rocking the same jumps side by side pulling trick for trick. This was the first time we've put 20" and 26" wheels together and have seen mountain bikes keeping pace. 720's, Double tail whips, 360 whips and a barrage of back flips entertained the crowds and kept the competition fierce all weekend.
In the end we had a junior and a senior MTBMX champ. Devon Szmata took the senior class with the most impressive display on two wheels I've ever seen up close. He rode the course and threw down with both 20" and 26"bikes landing 720's smooth as butter, busting huge double tail whips and we even saw an attempt at a decade on the 26"er. Devon surely deserved the crown and was the proud recipient of a Brand new Urie dog ST. Second place went to Tanner Wilcocks who came back into the scene after a year off with a vengeance. Sweet no foot can's and smooth stylie pendulums, can't go wrong with those. Tanner took home a weekend trip for two to Panorama Mountain Village. Third place senior went to Pain Inc rider Mitch Thornton who was throwing down the scariest back flips anyone has ever seen on a big bike and showed that you don't need a tiny street bike to keep pace with the BMX world. For his trails and tribulations Mitch went home with a new MRP system from NRG Enterprises to put on his bike.
The junior class was packed with talent as well. 360's, back flips and tail whips seemed to be the bag that the kids were unleashing on the course. It was quite the spectacle to watch these kids throw down tricks with such confidence and authority all weekend. By Sunday night we had to choose a winner and one guy stood out all weekend long. We saw him shaving his head in a corner Saturday morning, I guess it gave him the extra juice he needed. Matt Montadon was crowned Jr Alberta MTBMX Champ with his high flyin smooth stylin BMX shred-a-thon. We'd have to peel him off the course both nights as he couldn't seem to get enough time in. Matt took home a spanky new Urie Dog ST as well as a $250 gift certificate courtesy Bow Cycle to help him get it built up. Second place went to Glen Bradley who walked away with an MRP system courtesy NRG Enterprises. Last but not least third place went to Keele Stewart. Keel was dialed the whole weekend tossing 360's and 270's all over. Unfortunately Kyle bailed hard one a 360 attempt and later found out he broke a bone in his arm. Not knowing it was broken Kyle shredded the whole weekend and still managed to pull off a third place standing. Good work Kyle! For his efforts Kyle received a set of Avid Juicy Brakes from Bow Cycle.
Following the event we held some rounds for best tricks in certain areas of the course to unload more prizing. The riders were stoked and sessioned hard for more loot. Here's some happy winners of some beautiful messenger bags courtesy of Yodo Distribution.
We like to give a HUGE thanks to all the companies that helped us with prizing for this years event. Each and every one of them was super stoked to be involved and we were stoked that they chose to be involved. Without support from these guys events like this don't happen. All in all everyone walked away happy and with something to take home and here's the list of people to thank for it...
